California's Statute of Frauds identifies agreements that need signed written evidence
Property agreement
Is it a sale of real property or an interest, or a lease longer than one year?
Sufficient record
Does a writing or connected memorandum contain the material terms?
Right signer
Did the party to be charged, or a properly authorized agent, subscribe it?
California Civil Code section 1624 requires signed written evidence for specified agreements, including a sale of real property or an interest in it, a lease longer than one year, and covered broker employment for compensation. A noncompliant agreement is generally treated as unenforceable, not automatically void. Identify the covered category, material terms, party to be charged, signature, agent authority, and any narrow exception.
California Legislative Information, Civil Code section 1624 · checked 2026-08-27Seven section 1624 categories matter in real estate
| Agreement | Authority | Exam boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Sale of real property or an interest in it | Civil Code 1624(a)(3) | The contract or a sufficient note or memorandum must be written and subscribed by the party to be charged or that party's authorized agent |
| Lease longer than one year | Civil Code 1624(a)(3) | Measure the lease term, then separately test the one-year-from-making rule |
| Broker or agent employment for compensation | Civil Code 1624(a)(4) | Covers employment to buy or sell real estate, specified long-term leasing work, and finding or introducing covered parties |
| Agent authority to make the sale or long lease | Civil Code 1624(a)(3) | The agent's authority must itself be written and subscribed by the principal sought to be charged |
| Agreement not performable within one year from making | Civil Code 1624(a)(1) | The test is what the agreement requires by its terms, not how long performance happens to take |
| Purchaser's assumption of secured real-property debt | Civil Code 1624(a)(6) | The assumption must be specifically provided in the conveyance |
| Certain business credit over $100,000 | Civil Code 1624(a)(7) | Applies to covered nonconsumer lending commitments, with a stated residential one-to-four-unit rule |
Exam priority
Sales, interests in land, long leases, broker compensation, and the authority of a signing agent deserve the most attention. The debt-assumption and business-credit paragraphs still belong on the map because DRE includes them in its contract chapter.
For leases, run two different one-year clocks
Clock 1: lease term
Section 1624(a)(3) covers leasing for a period longer than one year. A term of exactly one year is not longer than one year under this paragraph.
Clock 2: performance from making
Section 1624(a)(1) separately covers an agreement that, by its terms, cannot be performed within one year after it is made. A delayed start can change this clock.
| Example | Lease-term test | One-year-from-making test |
|---|---|---|
| Eleven months, starts immediately | Not longer than one year | Capable of completion within one year |
| Exactly one year, starts immediately | Not longer than one year | Capable of completion within one year |
| Exactly one year, starts three months later | Not longer than one year | Cannot finish within one year from making |
| Eighteen months, starts immediately | Longer than one year | Also cannot finish within one year |
A sufficient memorandum needs substance and the right signature
Agreement or memorandum
The signed record need not always be the final formal contract; a sufficient note or memorandum can perform the evidentiary job
Material terms
DRE says the writing must state the material terms well enough for a court to determine what the parties agreed
Party to be charged
The required signature is the signature of the person against whom enforcement is sought, or that person's authorized agent
Agent authority
If an agent makes the section 1624(a)(3) land-sale or long-lease agreement for that party, the agent's authority must also satisfy the writing rule
Connected records
DRE recognizes that more than one paper can form the memorandum, but the records must reliably establish one agreement and its material terms
Electronic layer
A compliant electronic record and electronic signature may satisfy the form requirement; Post 69 owns consent, attribution, retention, and ephemeral-message limits
A signature is not enough by itself
A signed scrap that shows only continuing negotiation may fail to identify the property, parties, price, or other material terms. Conversely, the required memorandum can sometimes be assembled from connected records. The question is whether the signed evidence reliably establishes the claimed agreement without asking the court to invent it.
Party to be charged means the person facing enforcement
Section 1624 does not say that every possible party must sign before the writing has any value. It requires subscription by the party to be charged, meaning the person against whom enforcement is sought, or that person's agent. If the buyer seeks to enforce against the seller, focus on the seller's subscription. If the seller seeks enforcement against the buyer, focus on the buyer's.
Transaction practice is stricter than the minimum courtroom question
A complete purchase agreement should show clear assent and signatures from all parties intended to be bound. The party-to-be-charged rule is a litigation test, not a drafting recommendation to collect only one signature.
Broker compensation has its own writing category
Employment by a principal
Section 1624(a)(4) covers an agreement employing an agent, broker, or another person for compensation to purchase or sell real estate, or to find or introduce a purchaser or seller. It also reaches the listed employment functions for a lease longer than one year.
Written evidence of the promise
DRE says a broker seeking an earned commission needs the compensation contract written and signed by the party to be charged. DRE also describes circumstances in which later escrow instructions can supply a written compensation promise.
DRE separately states that section 1624's broker-employment provision does not apply to an oral agreement between brokers to share a sale or exchange commission. That narrow Statute of Frauds distinction does not erase separate proof, licensing, employing-broker, MLS, or private agreement rules.
A material modification can restart the writing analysis
Civil Code section 1698 allows a written contract to be modified in writing. It recognizes an oral modification to the extent executed by the parties, and, unless the contract says otherwise, an oral modification supported by new consideration. But if the contract as modified falls within section 1624, the Statute of Frauds still must be satisfied. Section 1698 also preserves estoppel, waiver, oral novation, substitution, rescission, and collateral-contract rules in appropriate cases.
Do not rely on an informal change
A changed price, property, lease term, closing obligation, or compensation promise can alter material terms. Put changes into a clear signed record and follow the agreement's amendment procedure. Whether conduct saved an oral change is a dispute question, not a routine file strategy.
Performance and estoppel are narrow, fact-driven routes
Full performance
DRE states that the Statute of Frauds does not apply once the contract has been fully performed. First confirm which party performed and what remains.
Significant part performance
DRE recognizes that significant partial performance can excuse the lack of writing. The acts, reliance, requested remedy, and connection to the claimed land agreement make this a fact-intensive equitable issue.
Estoppel and related doctrines
Civil Code section 1698 preserves estoppel in appropriate modification cases. Do not use the word estoppel as an automatic escape from section 1624.
Later written memorandum
A later signed record, including properly drawn escrow instructions in the circumstance DRE describes, may supply evidence of the earlier bargain or compensation promise.
Exception spotting is not exception proving
Possession, payment, improvements, services, reliance, an admission, or an email can be relevant without automatically satisfying an exception. Preserve the exact facts and obtain legal analysis. California's qualified-financial-contract admission rule in section 1624(b) should not be copied into an ordinary home-sale question.
Eight California Statute of Frauds scenarios
1. Oral agreement to sell a house
Buyer and seller orally agree on the parcel and price, but neither signs a record.
Within section 1624(a)(3)
Treat the issue as enforceability, not automatic voidness. Then test the writing, signature, and any fact-specific exception.
2. Eleven-month lease beginning today
The lease term and complete performance both fit inside one year from making.
Not captured by the two common one-year clauses
Other laws and proof issues can still require documentation. This conclusion addresses only paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(3).
3. One-year lease beginning three months later
The lease is exactly one year, but the agreement cannot finish within one year from the date it was made.
Potentially within section 1624(a)(1)
Paragraph (a)(3) says longer than one year, but paragraph (a)(1) uses a different clock.
4. Seller orally promises a commission
A broker is orally employed to procure a buyer for the seller.
Within section 1624(a)(4)
The broker's compensation agreement needs the required signed writing or memorandum to support enforcement.
5. Property manager hires a broker to find a six-month tenant
The employment concerns a lease no longer than one year.
Not within the long-lease language of section 1624(a)(4)
Do not turn that narrow state-law conclusion into advice to work without a written employment agreement.
6. Friend signs the land-sale agreement for the owner
The owner gave only oral authority to sign the covered sale agreement.
Authority defect under section 1624(a)(3)
The agent's authority must be written and subscribed by the owner sought to be charged.
7. Parties orally change the price in a signed purchase agreement
The modified bargain remains within the Statute of Frauds.
Writing rule follows the modification
Civil Code section 1698 requires the modified contract to satisfy section 1624 unless another stated modification rule applies.
8. Text message says only 'deal'
The message does not identify enough material terms and may be ephemeral.
Do not assume it satisfies the statute
Post 69 will apply California's electronic-record and real-property-message rules. A digital format does not cure missing substance.
Use a six-step writing analysis
- 1
Classify
Identify the agreement: sale, lease, broker employment, signing authority, debt assumption, credit promise, or another category
- 2
Run both clocks
For a lease or delayed performance, test lease length and time from contract formation separately
- 3
Collect the record
Locate the contract, addenda, counteroffers, escrow instructions, emails, electronic records, and signature evidence
- 4
Match the signer
Name the party against whom enforcement is sought and verify that party's signature or valid written agent authority
- 5
Test substance
Confirm the connected records state the material terms rather than merely showing that negotiations occurred
- 6
Escalate exceptions
Preserve evidence of performance and reliance, then send exception and remedy questions to the responsible broker or attorney
Eight Statute of Frauds traps
All contracts must be written
False. California generally permits oral or implied contracts unless a statute requires writing for the category.
An oral land-sale agreement is automatically void
False. DRE describes the Statute of Frauds as a remedy and enforceability rule, not a rule of substantial validity.
Both sides must always sign before either can enforce
Overbroad. Section 1624 focuses on the signature of the party to be charged. Transaction safety still favors complete signatures from all parties.
A one-year lease never needs a writing
False. A delayed one-year lease may be incapable of full performance within one year from making and trigger paragraph (a)(1).
A short lease means oral broker employment is always safe
False as practice advice. The narrow long-lease clause may not apply, but other contract, licensing, proof, fiduciary, or private requirements can.
A text saying deal is enough
False. The record must establish the agreement and material terms, and California has a special limit for ephemeral messages used to convey real property.
Notarization is the Statute of Frauds test
False. The core section 1624 questions are writing, sufficient content, and subscription by the party to be charged or authorized agent.
The parol evidence rule and Statute of Frauds are the same
False. One asks whether a covered agreement has sufficient signed written evidence; the other limits use of outside evidence to vary an integrated writing.
After the writing test, verify the record and the deal timeline
Category, content, signer, authority, exception
Keep that sequence. Then use the Contracts area to connect the signed record to electronic execution, offer formation, options, assignments, listings, and remedies.
Review why noncompliance means unenforceablePractice California writing scenarios
California license requirement FAQs
Keep going
Place the writing rule inside the complete Contracts area
Move from qualification to forms, fingerprints, the examination, and license issuance.
Study the complete Contracts area
Connect writing to validity, electronic signatures, offers, options, assignments, listings, and remedies.
Classify Statute of Frauds noncompliance
See why a covered oral agreement is generally unenforceable rather than automatically void.
Review the four contract elements
Separate capable parties, consent, lawful object, and consideration from the additional writing gate.
Practice California writing scenarios
Test sales, leases, broker employment, authority, signatures, modifications, and exceptions.